Who am I?
by Lost Voice
Summary: This is the fourth story in a series of four stories. Read "Queen Serenity's Childhood," "Beyond the Facade," and "The Wish" first. This is also an alternate reality
1. Default Chapter

Prologue, The Bar:  
  
The door swung open and a gorgeous, tall lady with light   
  
green hair to past her hips and dark green eyes and thin lips   
  
walked into the bar. She moved over to the counter to order her   
  
first drink of the night, her hips swinging and her eyes dull.   
  
It would be one of many drinks she would have that night she knew   
  
as she chugged the drink in record time. The guy behind the   
  
counter almost made a comment but stopped himself. He was used   
  
to seeing her. She was a regular, and he knew not to bother her   
  
while she was drinking-which was most of the time.   
  
  
  
Much later that night the lady exited the bar, barely   
  
able to stand up but not looking as dizzy as one would expect   
  
for the large quantity of alchohol she had consumed. Just as   
  
others had tried to talk to her in the bar, many people,   
  
especially men, came up to talk to her in the street. Yet   
  
although her words were slurred, and she was obviously drunk,   
  
she put them all off, not wanting any company except the cool,   
  
refreshing taste of a good drink. 


	2. Hope

Chapter One: Hope:

Her bloodshot eyes stared into the mirror. She used her whole

hand to pull back her unruly curly black hair. It took her whole hand

to take control of that hair! It went down to her shoulder blades. Her

eyes narrowed as she stared at her rich brown eyes and her medium-full

lips. She took one last glance at her 5'7" body, and she exited the

apartment. She had to get out of there.

And there she was again. The strange girl who lived down the

hall. She was talking to herself again. "Hi Tabitha," she said as

cheerfully as she could manage to.

Tabitha looked startled as she turned around, then a smile

adorned her face. "Melanie," she said affectionately. They nodded at

each other, and Melanie took the elevator down to the first floor

where she walked to the grocery store, her list in hand.

She walked down the aisles, numbness taking over her whole

body. She didn't feel anything anymore. Nothing except the pain.

Nothing except the flashbacks and the nightmares and the jumpiness

and. She stopped that train of thoughts abruptly as she got her last

item and headed for the check-out line. No 10 items or less for her

this time. She was surprised she had gotten so much. After all, she

rarely ate. Ahead of her was a girl hanging onto a man's arms. She

grimaced. Not a good idea honey, she thought to herself. He'll

probably just rape you. She was surprised she had thought that

word, even in her head, she never allowed herself to think that

word before. The girl had a short bob cut and black hair too with

thin lips, deep black eyes, and was only an inch below Melanie,

5'6". Hesitantly, Melanie looked over the man who's arm the girl

hung onto. He was short, 5'3" to be exact, and he had curly brown

hair above his ears, full lips, and hazel eyes. The girl turned

around, a breautiful, bright smile capturing Melanie's attention.

"Hi, my name's Samantha," she said, and for some reason it didn't

sound forced. She took her hand out of his arm for a moment, and

with sparkling black eyes, she reached her hand out for Melanie's.

Melanie smiled. This girl's smile is infectious, she thought to

herself. She shook her hand. The guy turned around and smiled at

Melanie.

"I'm David," he said, nodding at her kindly.

"I'm Melanie," she said carefully.

"David, can we get more sweets?" she begged, whining.

"Samantha, haven't you had enough sugar?" he admonished.

"There's no such thing as too much sugar!" she said,

drooling as her eyes got as big as saucers.

Despite her best efforts, Melanie found herself giggling along

with the amused David. She was disappointed when their turn came up,

and they walked off to their car, waving behind them. She waved back.

As she returned to her apartment, a dead weight settled on her stomach.

She saw Tabitha still talking to herself in the hall. She didn't bother

to address her this time, and Tabitha was too absorbed within herself

to notice Melanie.

As she unlocked her door, her breath got caught in her throat.

Papers were strewn everywhere, furniture was overturned, the window was

opened, blowing the papers everywhere. She froze. What if he or they

were still in the apartment? No please not again, she begged inwardly.

She turned to run. A hand was on her shoulder. She turned around

suddenly, shaking violently. "I got you," he said softly, holding her

gently but firmly. "I saw them," he said after a pause. "I called the

police." Another pause. "They're gone now. It's safe for you to go in

there."

She nodded, trying to hide her tear-stained face from him. She

entered the apartment slowly, gingerly stepping over the papers on the

floor. What did they want? she wondered. She turned around suddenly.

"Who are..." she stopped. He was gone. Who was he? she wondered

silently.

She slept fitfully that night. Images of the night almost a

year ago taking over her mind. His hands all over her body. No, i'm

not going to go through this again, she thought in exasperation. She

got up out of bed, her whole body aching. It was like she was being

raped all over her again, every part of her body throbbing from the

pain. There is no hope. It never ends. It never ends, she thought

in desperation. She curled up in a ball on the floor, closing her

eyes, her body wracked with sobs that would not exit her eyes in the

form of tears. Why can't i just cry? Why can't i let it out?" she

thought sadly. When she woke up, she was still curled up in a ball on

the floor. Someone was knocking on the door. "This is the police. Open

this door now, or we will be forced to break it down."

Oh, shit, she thought, hurriedly putting on a sweatshirt and

some loose jeans. "Coming, coming," she yelled over their banging on

the door. The door flew open as she pulled on it, and there were two

officers standing in the hall.

"Get your hand out from behind the door. Now!" one of the

officers shouted. She looked at her hand. It was on the back of the

door, out of the officer's view. She brought it out slowly, fear

shining in her eyes.

He nodded. "Sorry m'am but you could have been holding a

weapon."

She nodded. "Sorry about that.I wasn't thinking," she said.

"Can we come in?" the other officer asked, but they were both

entering the apartment anyway, and she had a feeling "no" wasn't an

acceptable answer. She nodded her head. "We just need to ask you some

questions."

"Mmhmm," she said, picking up two chairs for them to sit in.

They thanked her. She remained standing.

"First off all," the first officer said. "When did this

happen?"

"Sometime between 2:00-3:00 p.m., while i was at the store,"

Melanie answered truthfully.

"Which store?"

"The grocery store, Kellman's, on the corner," she said.

The second officer took over. "We believe there was at least

three, perhaps four or five, men involved in this. Did you see any of

them?"

"No..." she hesitated.

The first officer's head shot up. "You hesitated. What aren't

you telling us?"

"It's just...umm..." Should i tell them? she wondered.

"Miss," the second officer interjected. "If you keep something

from us, we may never find out who did this and bring them to justice."

She nodded. "Soemone else saw. I don't know his name, but he

said he saw. And well, I'd recognize him if I saw him again."

The officers looked at each other. "Do you have any idea where

we can find this man?" the second officer asked.

"No, I'm sorry. He took off beforeI could ask him much of

anything. I've never seen him before," she admitted.

The officers looked at each other again. "Ok you realize we

can't do much with that information," the first officer said honestly.

Melanie nodded. "Of course," she said.

"We'll be back to question you further in a few hours," the

second officer said as both of their pagers beeped. And they exited.

Melanie sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. Her back was

aching, and her head was throbbing. A soft knock was at her door

just a few minutes later.

She slowly walked to the door and opened it. Then she gasped

in shock. The man who had seen the robbers was standing outside door.

"You," she whispered. "You just disappeared before. The police need

to know where you live. They need information on the robbers," she

said frantically.

He nodded. "I know. i'm on my way to the police station, but

I wanted to stop by and let you know something."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Those men. I located them. I'll tell the police where they

are. They have no ideaI know, so they won't be running." His hands

were in his pockets. He noticed her eyeing his pockets. He smiled a

little and took his hands out of his pocket. "See, nothing," he said,

turning his hands over.

She grabbed them and impulsively kissed them. "SoI see," she

said.

His left eyebrow was raised. "You sure move fast," he said.

She blanched.

"Whoa sorry," he said quickly. "Wrong thing to say.

Obviously."

She giggled. "Obviously." She bit her lip. "You want

something to drink or something?" she asked.

"No.I better get to the police station, butI may take you

up on that offer another time," he said, winking as he left.

She grinned as he left. Her whole body tingled. What was this

feeling? Maybe this is the feeling Samantha gets with David she thought

in excitement. She twirled around, and she went to the kitchen to make

something to eat. Suddenly, she felt the need to eat. She hadn't felt

this alive in a long time. The men were going to get caught. She would

be safe. "Maybe there is hope after all," she thought to herself. Then

there was a blinding white light. The plate she was holding dropped on

the floor and broke into several pieces. She didn't look back as she

stepped through a mirror. A black and white cat were waiting on the

other side. "Welcome back," they both said, as the white cat rubbed

up against her.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

When the police and the man got to her apartment, the plate was

still on the floor, and she was gone.

"What the hell happened here?" the first officer asked

frantically.

"So it was time for her to go already," the man said softly.

"I wasn't ready." He shook his head sadly, knowing he would never see

her again.

"What are you talking about?" the second officer asked in

confusion.

"Ignore him," the first officer said. "We gotta find the girl,"

and they left the apartment.

The man laughed. They're never going to find her.

To Be Continued...


End file.
